List of Hollywood’s highest paid actors 2014
Hollywood’s Highest Paid Actors 2014
1) Robert Downey Jr.: $75 million
topped the 2014 Forbes Magazine list of Hollywood’s highest paid actors, earning an estimated $75 million. The star of Iron Man and the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron earned the same amount last year, according to the list.
Marvel has been accused of being stingy when it comes to paying the stars of its blockbuster superhero movies. But the studio (owned by Disney) is plenty generous when it comes to Downey. As Iron Man, he’s been the driving force behind four of Marvel’s biggest hits, including “The Avengers” which is the third highest-grossing movie of all time. He played hard to get with the upcoming “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and was rewarded with a big pay hike. Most of Downey’s money this year comes from the backend of “Iron Man 3” which was the highest-grossing movie of 2013 with $1.2 billion in box office revenue.
2)Dwayne Johnson: $52 million
With ensemble movies like “G.I. Joe” and “Fast and Furious,” Johnson has transcended his wrestling days to become a true movie star. Now he’s graduated to leading man. With “Hercules” and 2015’s earthquake disaster film “San Andreas,” The Rock is carrying movies on his sizable shoulders. A smart businessman, he’s also branching out into TV. “The Hero” was his first stab at reality TV. Now he’s moving up to the big leagues with the HBO comedy “Ballers.” Johnson is executive producing and starring in the comedy about a group of football players.
3)Bradley Cooper: $46 million
Cooper’s ability to balance large and small movies lands him on our Celebrity 100 for the first time this year. His work in the lucrative “Hangover” franchise has given him the ability to take risks with smaller films like “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle.” Both movies earned him Oscar nominations (though he has yet to win a gold statue) and plenty of money with their healthy profit margins. Cooper also lent his voice to Rocket Raccoon for the Marvel movie “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
4)Leonardo DiCaprio: $39 million
It’s hard to imagine now, but “The Wolf of Wall Street” was a risk for DiCaprio. The actor had to agree to cut his upfront fee in order to get the Martin Scorsese film made. Five Oscar nominations (including for Best Actor) and $395 million later, it looks like “Wolf” was yet another good bet for the actor. DiCaprio excels at turning adult movies into box office hits. His other triumph this year was “The Great Gatsby.” A surprise hit, “Gatsby” earned $351 million at the global box office.
5)Chris Hemsworth: $37 million
The actor category is one of the toughest on the Celebrity 100 and despite earning millions, Hemsworth just failed to make the cut. The “Thor” star isn’t resting on his Marvel laurels. Look for him in movies like the upcoming “Cyber” about high-level hacking.
6)Liam Neeson: $36 million
When Hollywood needs an actor with a certain set of skills, they turn to Neeson. With “Taken 3” on the horizon, Neeson still makes plenty of money. He just didn’t have the fame numbers to rank on our Celebrity 100 this year.
7)Ben Affleck: $35 million
Poor Ben Affleck. When Warner Bros. announced that the actor would be stepping into Batman’s famous shoes, the Internet turned against him heckling the actor as completely unworthy of the role most lately made famous by Christian Bale. But Affleck might have the last laugh. He’s collected a huge paycheck for the upcoming movie and could have steady work for years to come as Warner Bros. gives D.C. Comics the Marvel treatment with multiple movies lined up over the next five years.
8)Christian Bale: $35 million
Bale has successfully moved on from playing Batman. He earned his second Oscar nomination this year for “American Hustle” and up next he’s playing Moses in a big-budget version of the Bible tale — “Exodus” from director Ridley Scott.
9)Will Smith: $32 million
Studios still pay Will Smith top dollar to star in their blockbusters because even when he misfires, he still brings in a huge fan base. Smith’s latest film, “After Earth,” barely registered in the U.S. earning only $60 million. But it did better overseas bringing in $183 million or 75% of its total global box office. Smith’s most recent passion project is a new big-screen version of “Annie” starring African-American actors in many of the key roles. He produced the film with Jay-Z.
10)Mark Wahlberg: $32 million
Wahlberg is still collecting money from 2012’s “Ted.” The raunchy comedy earned $550 million in theaters on a $50 million budget. This year he showed his more serious side with “Lone Survivor.” The $40 million movie brought in a healthy $150 million at the global box office. In addition to his movie work, Wahlberg has a thriving career as a TV producer. His company produced “Entourage” (soon to hit the big screen) and “Boardwalk Empire” on HBO. Now he’s backing his “Pain and Gain” costar Dwayne Johnson with the football comedy “Ballers.”
